Like Calls to Like
by cabeswatercalling
Summary: Since the death of the previous Darkling, it's only been a matter of time... (Takes place after Ruin and Rising)
1. Chapter 1

Keramzin was set ablaze in the fall.

Not with fire, no. With color. Since the Darkling scorched the landscape of the valley all those years ago, a new forest had grown up through the ashes, bright and full with life. The trees were tall enough now to tower over the massive house, raining down their leaves in brilliant bursts each year.

And each year, Alina lay back in the meadow with Mal, and they watched the dying leaves make their final descent. It was beautiful, and for Alina, sad. The leaves which blazed so brightly reminded her of Inferni fire. This was one of the few time Alina missed the Grisha. This one time each year, she felt a little pull in her stomach, an ache in her heart. For a brief moment, she longed for the glittering domes of the Little Palace- for the rush of Squaller winds by the lake, the light of Bahgra's hut in the distance. The overwhelming opulence of every corridor, every room. But then she would blink, and the image would fade. That wasn't her reality anymore, nor did she want it to be. The Grisha had become a dream to Alina,a vague memory that lived in the back of her mind

. And she was fine with that. At least, that's what she told herself.

Alina was pulled from her reverie by a small tug on her skirt. She turned, shaking her head as if it would dispel of all her thoughts. At her feet stood a little boy of no more than eight years with a grin stretched impossibly wide.

"Sofya!" The boy called her by her new name- the name she had chosen to match her new life. "Come play Apple Bash!"

Alina smiled. She was familiar with Apple Bash- it was something Mal had invented one autumn when Alina had made one too many apple cakes. "Apple cake, apple cake, apple cake! All we eat is apple cake!" He'd yelled jokingly, just barely being able to speak through his laughter. "I shall dispose of these apples! No more apples!" He threw an apple up in the air and hit the fruit across the kitchen with a broom. It smacked into the opposite wall, spraying sweet juice and chunks of apple all over the room. "Be gone, foul creature!" Alina had laughed so hard she cried, and Apple Bash had become a fall tradition.

"Apple Bash!" Alina said excitedly "Yury, you always bring me the best news." The boy beamed up at her, and Alina couldn't help but laugh at the gaps where he had already begun to loose teeth. "Yury, I have a very important job for you. Are you ready for it?" The boy nodded earnestly, his face suddenly a mask of solemnity. Alina made of show of looking around the room, as if checking for intruders. Then she leaned it very close and whispered in his ear, "Run and tell the others."

The boy took off running down the halls, Alina trailing behind him. Together, they went around to every classroom door, every dormitory, banging on the walls and singing out "Apple Bash! Apple Bash!"

The children fled to the meadow. The teachers followed, but remained at the edges of the field, somewhat apprehensive, undoubtedly judgmental. Alina didn't care, she ran past them, her white hair flying out behind her. Mal stood in the center of the field- a broom swung over his shoulder and a basket of apples waiting at his feet.

"Took you long enough!" He called to Alina. She lifted her hands as if to say _what can you do? _Mal laughed.

"Okay, urchins! You know the rules! Hit the apple with the broom, you only get a point if the pieces hit me!" Mal twirled the broom in his hands, tapping his feet as if he were doing a little dance. "Ten points if they hit Sofya!"

Alina laughed. "You are rotten!" She picked up an armful of leaves and tossed them in his direction. They scattered in the wind, swirling through the meadow. Their laughter thundered through the air, restrained by nothing.

The game was messy, as it always was. The children lined up to take a chance with the broom, or scattered throughout the field, ready to catch flying chunks of apple. Mal's pitches slowly became more elaborate and less accurate, but the children didn't care. They howled with laughter as apples exploded into pieces overhead. Alina's hair was plastered to her face with sweet, sticky juice, and her dress was already covered in grass stains. At this moment, she couldn't remember ever missing the little palace.

"You can't, I already told you!" The child's voice rang out. Alina looked over to where one of the older children was holding the broom over his head, keeping a younger girl from getting it. "You're too little!"

"I am not!" The girl- Eva- protested. Her face was a mask of fury and determination, but the top of her head only reached the boy's chest.

"You are. You'll never hit it. We shouldn't waste the apples like that!"

"I can hit it." Eva's voice was deadly calm. She looked as if everything inside her was about to combust. Alina hadn't known such anger was possible.

She rushed over, snatching the broom out of the boy's hand. "Anton, don't say things like that. Apple Bash is for everyone." She knelt to offer the broom to the little girl. "Of course Eva can have a turn."

But Eva didn't take the broom. She didn't do anything. She continued to glare at Anton, her tiny fists clenched tightly at her sides. Her scowl was enough to quiet the rest of the group.

"He said I'm too small." The girl said, "But I'm not. I could do it, if I wanted."

"I know you can", Alina said gently. "Would you like to have a go?"

"I could, you know. I could hit it." Alina nodded once more.

Behind her, the boy snorted. "Please," he said arrogantly. "You're no higher than my knee caps. You'd be lucky if that apple caught you in the face."

Eva lunged for him. Even though she was a tiny creature, the force of her leap was enough to send both her and Anton careening into the grass. They rolled through the leaves, throwing punches and kicks, screaming at each other. Alina leapt after them, tearing the children apart. She pushed them away from each other, holding each of them by a shoulder. "Stop!" She yelled at them.

Eva was panting, her face still a mask of fury. "Eva," Alina said softly. "It's okay." That was when she noticed the little girl's hands.

They were covered in black. It looked almost like paint, but Alina couldn't imagine where Eva could have gotten ahold of black paint. "Eva, open your hand." She said carefully.

The girl gulped and then slowly uncurled her fist, finger by finger. Black vapors curled off the palm of her hand in delicate tendrils, mixing in with the breeze. They looked almost like smoke, but Alina knew better. No smoke could be so delicate, so dark. It had been years, but Alina still remembered the way the darkness fell from his fingertips. She still remembered what it could call down. The wind whispered _Aleksander _in her ear.

Alina realized she was not breathing. Shakily, she took a breath. "Mal," she called, realizing her mistake too late. Mal hadn't used that name in years. Not in front of anyone besides Alina. "Leo." He jogged over, still dripping in apple juice. He looked at Eva's hand and dropped the apple he was holding. Everything in the meadow was still.

"_Saints." _Mal breathed. "It's happening again."


	2. Chapter 2

That night, the silence was the loudest thing in the house.

The children had gone to bed long ago, and the teachers had left, back to their own homes and their own children in the village nearby. At night, it was only Alina and Mal and the quiet everyone else had left behind.

The couple stood on either ends of the kitchen. Mal absentmindedly rubbed a towel across the surface of a pan, but his eyes were glazed over in thought. Alina hadn't even made an effort to appear normal- she leaned across the counter with her elbows resting on a dirty cutting board and her face in her hands. They didn't speak.

Eventually, when Mal had worn a hole in either the towel or the pan, he said "If she doesn't want to go, we won't send her. It's as easy as that."

Alina thought back to hours ago, when they explained everything to Eva. Told her she was special. She was Grisha. The girl was small, but she was smart. She knew what became of Grisha. When Alina mentioned Os Alta, Eva had whipped her head back and forth. No she'd said I don't want to go there. I want to stay. Alina hadn't said any more, she hadn't pressed her. She just left.

"She doesn't want to go." Alina said softly.

"Then what's the problem?" Mal asked, finally putting his pan down. "She has a choice, she chose not to go. The end."

"It's not that simple, Mal." Alina said. "Saints, I wish it were."

"Why? Why isn't it that simple? There's something you're not telling me, Alina."

"Mal, I-"

"No! No excuses, Alina. No more secrets. You promised." Alina could feel his gaze on the top of her head, and she had no choice but to look up and face him. She took a breath. He waited.

"You have to understand," She began "It was the end of the war. We had lost so many. When we sat down to plan our next move, we looked around the table and saw that that was it. All that was left of us. And it was all because of him. And me." She paused, waiting for Mal to react in some way, but his face was stoic. "Darkling and Sun Summoners aren't like the rest, Mal. They're too dangerous. Too powerful. We couldn't let something like that happen again, so we made a plan." She took another breath. "All children get to choose, but should a Darkling or a Sun Summoner ever appear again, they were to be sent to Os Alta to be trained. No exceptions."

Mal was quiet for a long minute. Alina expected him to yell, to throw things, the smash a window. But the whisper that escaped his lips was worse than anything else. "You never considered the child, Alina, never thought about the circumstances-"

Alina cut him off "Don't you dare say that! We did think about the circumstances, Mal. We thought long and hard about them, but we also thought about the war, and how many of our friends we watched die. You act like we chose to be cruel, but you have to believe me when I say we didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice." He spat back "They'll crush her there, I hope you know that."

"I do. I do. But what am I supposed to do?" Alina felt tears well in her eyes, and she blinked furiously to dispel them. "I never thought I would be alive to meet the next Darkling."

"I'm scared for her." She whispered.

When Mal looked up at her, all the anger was gone from his eyes. In its place was fatigue and grief. Alina couldn't decide which was worse. Their lives had been so good for so long, Alina had almost forgotten what this Mal looked like. This Mal, who was pressed down and smothered by the weight of everything around him. She hadn't missed him.

Mal crossed to room in a few steps and placed his hands on either side of her head. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers. "Me, too." He whispered back. "Me, too.

**A/N Hello everyone! Sorry updating is so sporadic. To be honest, this story is kind of on my back burner. I hope you like this next chapter though! Leave a review if you'd like- I would love to hear your thoughts!**


	3. Chapter 3

They agreed on three weeks. Three weeks to make sure it wasn't a fluke, to be absolutely certain that Eva was Grisha. It was a far-fetched hope, Alina knew, but it was more for Mal's benefit that for her own.

In those three weeks, the rest of the leaves fell from the trees. The bite of cold air in the morning became stronger, and Alina brought out the trunks of thick knits for the children to grab before running out the door. Black handprints began appearing on the walls. Eva would wake up some days with darkness snaking up her arms or woven through her hair. One night, all the lights in the house went out all at once. Alina, paralyzed with fear and sadness, couldn't bring herself to relight them.

Eva never stopped asking Alina if she would have to leave. She never stopped telling Mal she didn't want to. The little girl affirmed her spot in the house in the way little girls do. Alina found her name scrawled messily in her favorite books from the library. She scratched _Eva _into the posts of her bed. She left toys in her chair at the dinner table to mark it as her own. Anything to remind everyone in the house that she lived there.

But Alina couldn't ignore what was happening. Eva was Grisha, and a Darkling at that. Alina knew what had to happen, and Mal did, too. Even if he refused to talk to her for those three weeks.

The silence was broken on the night Alina wrote the letter. Even after years of disconnection, Alina knew it would be Zoya to receive it. Mal came in just as she was sealing it.

"Where's that headed?" He asked innocently. But it's the first thing he's said to her in weeks, and Alina could hear his suspicion dripping from every word.

"Os Alta," She said curtly.

Mal's face was expressionless. Alina had only seen him like this a few times, and it was always right before he blew up entirely. "We agreed-"

"We agreed we would wait. And we did. But you can't deny this anymore, Mal."

"She doesn't want to go!"

"That's not a choice we have!" Alina said "I don't want to send her away either, but you have to realize that this is bigger than us!"

"Is it bigger than her, Alina?" His voice was quiet, but it cut through her like a knife.

"So many people died, Mal. I can't let that happen again." He said nothing. His face was smoothed over in perfect nothingness, but there was something burning in his eyes. He's furious with her.

Alina picked up the letter and tucked it into her shirt. _Mal doesn't get it _she told herself. He's not Grisha. He doesn't understand that war the way she does. As much as Alina loves Eva, the black that spreads from her tiny fingers terrified her. A Darkling wasn't something Alina took lightly, and it wasn't not something she was willing to risk. She would find someone who was leaving for Os Alta tonight. She was sending the letter, no matter what Mal thought of her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to him as she walked out of the room.

Mal watched her go, and then shuts the door behind her. Before she was out of earshot, she heard him lock it.

It takes another week for Zoya to arrive. In this week, Alina tried to break it to Eva. She told the little girl about her own time at he Little Palace. She told her about the heaps of snow that cover the ground, and the way the lake freezes over in winter. She told her about pastries eaten by the fire with friends, and of huge beds stacked high with the softest blankets imaginable. She promised to visit and send letters and even allowed the girl to pack her favorite books to take with her. But Eva was inconsolable. She didn't want to go, no matter how glamorous Alina tries to tell her it is.

Alina no longer sees Mal at all. He makes sure to leave the room whenever she enters it. He doesn't appear for meals. Alina doesn't know where he sleeps, but it isn't in their bed. Alina walked around with a knot in her throat all week.

Mal wasn't there to greet Zoya either. Alina's old friend arrived early one morning in an elaborate coach dressed in shimmering blue robes. Her black hair fell loose around her shoulders, and though her eyes were bright, Alina could see a tiredness in her face that only comes from being in charge.

Still, they hugged, and Zoya smiled at her.

"I missed you," she said. "You never visit."

Alina allowed herself a small grin. "Plenty to do here," she says, gesturing to the house behind her.

Zoya's face grew serious. "Of course. Especially considering…" Alina nodded at her. "How old is she?"

"Five."

Zoya pursed her lips. "That's good. She's young. I can work with that."

"Zoya-" Alina started. "Promise me you'll be kind to her."

The other woman looked her sincerely in the eyes. "I'm not a monster. Of course we'll be kind."

Alina closed her eyes. "Thank you." She breathed.

Zoya gave her shoulder a squeeze and began to walk towards the house. Alina followed quickly behind. "Where is she?"

"Her room, probably. I'll take you there."

"And Mal?"

Alina was silent.

Children ran past them as they make their way through the house, laughing and pulling toys behind them. When Ivan sprinted past, nearly flipping over the pairs of shoes that sit at the bottom of the stairs, Alina knew another game of tag must have broken out. She yelled at him to be careful as the little boys ran screaming down the hallway.

She caught Zoya smiling. "You've really made a life for yourself here." The other girl said.

Alina nodded in agreement. "I have."

They continued through the narrow hallways of the upstairs. Evidence of the children was everywhere- in the blankets left abandoned on the floor, the drawings on the walls that Alina has yet to wash off. Alina even found a cat hiding under a chair, and she made a note to find out who brought the creature inside.

The room Eva shares with four other girls is at the end of the hall. Alina pushed the door open slowly. All the beds were made, and Eva's trunk sat packed at eh end of her bed, but the girls were gone. Alina frowned.

"She should be in here," she said, stepping inside. She even checked under the beds to see if the little girl was hiding.

"Lets check downstairs," Zoya suggested.

But Eva was not downstairs either. Alina began asking the other children if they had seen here, but only received shaken heads and giggles.

"Where could she possibly have gone?" Zoya asked.

And then Alina knew. "Mal."

She took off running, tearing through the house. Zoya tried to follow behind, but Alina moved faster than she could think. She checked their bedroom, the study, the shed outside. Along the way, she noticed certain things missing. Mal's things. Two loaves of bread were missing from the kitchen, a stack of maps from the study. Mal's secret stash of money was missing from its hiding spot, and his boots were nowhere to be seen.

Zoya finally caught up to Alina on the porch of the house. The other woman had her arms crossed tightly across her chest, and her eyes scanned the trees beyond the yard.

"They're gone," Alina said quietly. "Mal took her."


End file.
